PORT ANGELES — Volunteer firefighters, the backbone of many fire agencies on the North Olympic Peninsula, may soon have to pay to serve their communities.
Emergency-service workers, both volunteer and career personnel, would have to cover the cost of their state certification under a bill before the state Legislature.
The proposal — opposed by the Clallam County Fire Chief’s Association, and with an East Jefferson County Fire Chiefs Association vote against it likely next month — puts fire districts and departments alike in the position of having to cover the cost themselves or risk losing volunteers who provide not just backup but in many cases are the only responders to emergency calls.
“Volunteers already give their time,” said Trish Hutson, chief
of Clallam County Fire District No. 5, located in Clallam Bay.
“Trying to impose fees on top of that can be a big hardship.”
Hutson and other heads of small fire agencies, who have little or no staff emergency responders, say they would find the funds in their budgets to cover the cost, $125 every three years, in order to keep volunteers and maintain service.
“You can’t lose that pool of people who will donate that time,” Brinnon Fire Department Chief Bob Herbst said.
With 16 volunteers, the move could cost the department about $2,000 every certification cycle.
The proposal, House Bill 2141, was introduced during the special session that ended Dec. 14, and will be before the Legislature during the regular session that starts Jan. 9.
Kevin Van De Wege, a Clallam County Fire District No. 3 lieutenant and North Olympic Peninsula representative in Olympia, said he doesn’t expect the bill to go far.
But the Sequim Democrat also said he doesn’t think the state, which is facing a $1.4 billion shortfall, has the money to continue to pay for the certifications.
“That’s a service the state provides, and I’m not sure that we’re in a position that general fund dollars can pay for those kind of services anymore,” he said.
Van De Wege said if the bill does make it to a vote, he would like to see more of the burden placed on the larger fire departments to protect the small, rural districts.
Large districts
The Port Angeles Fire Department and East Jefferson Fire-Rescue have the largest paid staffs on the Peninsula, and also would be taking a serious hit, their chiefs said, particularly with the loss of any volunteers.
“It will have a significant impact on the district,” Port Angeles Fire Chief Dan McKeen said, referring to Clallam County Fire District No. 2, which shares volunteers with the department, “and also an impact on the Port Angeles Fire Department.”
McKeen and Gordon Pomeroy, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue chief, said they would both expect to cover the cost for their volunteers.
But they also face another decision: what to do about the cost for their paid staff?
Pomeroy said the agency would likely end up covering those costs as well, while McKeen said it’s too early to say.
McKeen said the department is inclined to cover the costs for volunteers.
“It’s really difficult to attract and maintain volunteers,”he said.
“And then asking them to contributing financially for a certification required of them to volunteer is really asking even more.”
Pomeroy, who heads the East Jefferson County Fire Chiefs Association, said the group has yet to take on the issue but he expects it to vote against it next month.
The bill also would require fire agencies to cover the cost of certifying vehicles, which may end up costing as much as the personnel certifications, McKeen said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.